Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Belgrade uses displaced Serbs as political pawns - Kosovo minister

Excerpt from report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV on 20 December

[Announcer] The Serbian government is holding displaced persons from Kosovo as hostages for their own political aims. They have to understand that the problem lies with Belgrade, [Kosovo] Minister of Local Government Lutfi Haziri has said.

[Reporter] The Belgrade authorities' unwillingness to cooperate with Pristina is the main problem in the return of displaced Serbs to Kosovo, Minister of Local Government Lutfi Haziri said. He added that for the Kosovo government, every act that hinders the sustainable return must be condemned and is unacceptable. There can be no collective return which is politicized, as demanded by the government in Serbia.

[Minister of Local Government Lutfi Haziri] The persistent actions that have been going on for the past few months have shown that they [Serbian government] have moved backwards, that there is hesitation and there is no readiness for cooperation. [Passage omitted]

[Reporter] During his [Haziri's] visits to Podgorica and Skopje the governments there showed a readiness to cooperate on this issue. According to government data, 60,000 displaced persons live in Serbia who have expressed their readiness to return to Kosovo

8 comments:

It was time for Kosovar government to say this truth. Kosova's ombdusman, Mr. Nowicki, has said this as well. There is a conflict of intererests: any violence and non-return of Serbs helps Belgrade make a point that there should be a separation along ethnic lines. So, return is something Belgrade will say often but actually is non interested in solving.I pray that the Kosova Serbs wake up and face the reality.

Let;s face it, the EU will occupy you uncivilized shiftars for generations until you learn the rule of law according to established civilized norms...you poor creatures...bend your neck for another generation or two...

Ancient Kosovan feuds resurface

Thursday December 22, 2005 07:06 - (SA) By smet Hajdari

PATROVE - The centuries-old custom of blood feuds has gripped a part of Kosovo, threatening the lives of people in two clans as it did with thousands of ethnic Albanians in the past.

The feud between the two clans began at the end of November when Fadil Mujota, a 36-year-old father of four, was shot dead at a gas station owned by the Beqaj family in the central village of Belinc.

"Fadil went to Belinc to fill a tank with gasoline. His friends, who were waiting for him in a nearby cafe, had no time even to put sugar in their coffee when they heard shots and found him covered in blood," said Shaip Mujota, the victim's eldest brother.

The circumstances behind the murder are still not clear, although a main suspect, 16-year-old Arlind Beqaj, has been detained pending a trial.

The blood feud system is believed to have re-emerged in Kosovo due to a power vacuum during the United Nations-run province's painful transition from conflict six and a half years ago.

As a result, many Albanians in Kosovo have returned to the laws of their tribal roots in a bid to settle disputes, namely the Code of Leke Dukagjini, an Albanian aristocrat from the era of struggle against Ottoman rule in the 14th century.

The legal system that has since existed in Kosovo, as well as parts of neighbouring Albania, includes the right to kill to avenge murders, or "whoever kills, will be killed".

An estimated 50 murders in the province have been linked to blood revenge between the end of Kosovo's 1998-1999 war between Serbian forces and Albanian rebels and the end of last year.

"Kosovo is still in a vacuum between strong traditions of the past and modern values," Naim Maloku, sociologist and professor at the Pristina University, said.

Maloku noted that Kosovo's society was "deeply patriarchal, torn by its inclination toward the West and by its religious past which originates from the East."

"These two civilisations clash, pushing people towards one or another pole and making them oscillate between them," he added.

Last week, six brothers from the 60-member Mujota clan were still receiving condolences from friends and family at their homes in the hillside village of Mollopolce.

The Mujotas, well-known and respected here for their contribution to the ethnic Albanian guerrilla force that fought Serbian forces during the conflict, could hardly hide their anger at the lack of any rule of law.

"Unfortunately, the system does not function. I know that no one can return our brother. God willing, Fadil will be the last victim," said Shaip Mujota.

He said he had given his word of honour, or "Besa" - a rule declaring that any murderer will not to be killed outside his home - to the Beqajs and their children, "who have to go to school."

"I am a teacher and I know that going to school is important,"Mujota said. "But we have to know why our brother was killed."

Since the killing, the pressure has mounted on both families, aware of the custom that those deciding against vengeance and "honour killings" were seen as cowards and considered unworthy.

Although the Dukagjini code also offers ways for the families to reconcile through mediation by influential people respected by both sides, the two clans are yet to find a truce.

There were no signs of life outside six traditionally high-walled Beqaj houses in the muddy village of Petrove, set in the eerily calm mountainous region.

"We are in a blood feud with the Mujotas," admitted 63-year-old Fehmi Beqaj, the head of the 70-member clan known in the region as successful merchants.

"We are waiting for the dispute with the Mujotas to be resolved," he said, adding that their gas station and sawmill businesses had been paralysed for weeks.

Beqaj said the "Besa" offered by the Mujotas would last till the third day of the Muslim Bayram holiday in the middle of February.

"Until then, our children can freely go to school, but after it expires, we will be confined to our houses until this dispute is over," Fehmi said, turning down the likelihood the matter could be resolved with the help of police.

The feud was "between the two families and will be settled in accordance with the code...What God decides, will be," he said.

talking about albanian civilization.how can belgrade return the people back to their homes when such stuff occur. no imagine the whole albanian society having a "besa" against serbs, collectivelly? it is like sending sheeps to get slaughtered. than we are talking about an ethnic cleansing, whether you like it or not.

Before you use the word BESA you have to understand it (what it means). This word is more then you think or grasp it is, so please have some respect for sacred things on the other side if you expect someone else to have respect for the sacred things of your own (Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit would be a good start for you to read, it is translated into English). People truly die for BESA however not on revenge (for honor). Besa originates way back in our history and comes from kanuni of Lek Dukagjini or Gjergj Kastrioti, and in both cases it meant law code. It was actually quite advanced at that time even for many Western European countries. It appears to me that whatever is Albanian be it good or bad in your world (or own bubble) is bad no matter what.

If you want to have healthy and constructive arguments you should have the right attitude to start with. According to you whatever is Albanian is bad, that tells me that you are heavy biased and worthy of having an intellectual argument with.

As I previously told you we are not capable of changing historical events that have already taken character and shape. Something even your own president admits after visiting Paris this last week.